CHRIST had sojourned in the world for thirty-three years; He had endured its scorn, insult, and mockery; He had been rejected and crucified. Now, when about to ascend to His Father’s throne—as He reviews the ingratitude of the people He came to save—will He not withdraw His sympathy and love from them? Will not His affections be centered on that world where He is appreciated, and where sinless angels adore Him and wait to do His bidding?—No; His promise to those loved ones whom He leaves on earth is, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.”
With hands extended in blessing them, and as if in assurance of His protecting care, He slowly ascended from among them, drawn heavenward by a power stronger than any earthly attraction. As He passed upward, the awestruck disciples looked with straining eyes for the last glimpse of their ascending Lord. A cloud of glory received Him out of their sight, and at the same moment there floated down to their charmed senses the sweetest and most joyous music from the angel choir.
The "same Jesus" who died on Calvary's cross "for our sins" is coming in glory to receive His faithful ones to Himself forever
While their gaze was still riveted upward, voices addressed them that sounded like the music which had just charmed them. They turned, and saw two beings in the form of men; yet their heavenly character was immediately discerned by the disciples, whom they addressed in comforting accents, saying, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in9like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.” These angels were of the company that had been waiting in a shining cloud to escort Jesus to His throne; and in sympathy and love for those whom the Saviour had left, they came to remove all uncertainty from their minds, and to give them the assurance that He would come to earth again.
The “same Jesus” who healed the sick is coming again to heal every wound that sin has made.
The Welcome Home
All heaven was waiting to welcome the Saviour to the celestial courts. As He ascended He led the way; and the multitude of captives whom He had raised from the dead at the time when He came forth from the tomb, followed Him. The heavenly host, with songs of joy and triumph, escorted Him upward. At the portals of the City of God an innumerable company of angels awaited His coming. As He approached the gates of the city, the angels who were escorting the Majesty of Heaven, in triumphant tones addressed the company at the portals: “Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of Glory shall come in!”
The waiting angels at the gates of the city inquire in rapturous strains, “Who is this King of Glory?” The escorting angels joyously reply in songs of triumph: “The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of Glory shall come in.” Again the waiting angels ask, “Who is this King of Glory?” and the escorting angels respond in melodious strains, “The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of Glory.” Then the portals of the City of God are widely opened, and the heavenly train pass in amid a burst of angelic music. All the heavenly host surround their majestic Commander as He takes His position upon the throne of the Father.
Coming, and all the holy angels with Him. "Behold, He cometh with clouds." "The Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle."
With the deepest adoration and joy, the hosts of angels bow before Him, while the glad shout rings through the courts of heaven, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.” Songs of triumph mingle with music from angelic harps, till heaven seems to overflow with delightful harmony and inconceivable joy and praise. The Son of God has triumphed over the prince of darkness, and conquered death and the grave. Heaven rings with voices in lofty strains proclaiming, “Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever.”
He presents the captives He has rescued from the bonds of death, at the price of His own life. His hands place immortal crowns upon their brows; for they are the representatives and samples of those who shall be redeemed by the blood of Christ, from all nations, tongues, and people, and come forth from the dead, when He shall call the just from their graves at His second coming. Then shall they see the marks of Calvary in the glorified body of the Son of God. Their greatest joy will be found in the presence of Him who sitteth on the throne; and the enraptured saints will exclaim, “My Beloved is mine, and I am His! He is the Chiefest among ten thousand, and altogether lovely!”
The “Same Jesus”
The most precious fact to the disciples in the ascension of Jesus was that He went from them into heaven in the tangible form of their divine Teacher. The very same Jesus who had walked, and talked, and prayed with them, who had broken bread with them, who had been with them in their boats on the lake, who had sought retirement with them in the groves, and who had that very day toiled with them up the steep ascent of Olivet, had ascended to heaven in the form of humanity. And the heavenly messengers had assured them that the very same Jesus whom they had seen go up into heaven, should come again in like manner as He had ascended. This assurance has ever been, and will be to the end, the hope and joy of all true lovers of Christ.
The "same Jesus" who prayed for us in Gethsemane is coming to reward those for whom He prayed.
How Does It Affect You?
By A. O. Tait
By A. O. Tait
Do You Rejoice at the Thought of His Coming?
WHEN the doctrine of the second coming of Christ is preached, many people will be heard to say that it frightens them. They seem terrified at the thought of the possibility that the time may be near when the Christ of God will be seen coming in the glory that surrounds the majesty of His person.
That the feelings of men purely of the world, who have no hope in the promises of God and who have no personal acquaintance with His Son Jesus Christ, should thus be stirred with dread at the thought of the coming of Jesus of Nazareth, is not to be wondered at. But why should professing Christians dread the coming of Christ?
There can be but one answer to this question, and that is, they are not Christians in fact. They are such only in name. The Jesus that all prophecy shows will soon come again, is the same Jesus that was here on earth nineteen hundred years ago. “This Jesus, who was received up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye beheld Him going into heaven.” Acts 1:11. He is the same person when He returns that He was when He went away. All the tenderness of His nature that caused the common people of His day to hear Him gladly; all His kindness of heart and manner that drew the little children to Him; all His depth of feeling and sympathy for humanity as He wept at the grave of Lazarus, together with every other one of the desirable attributes that were so beautifully blended into His perfect character, will remain with Him when He comes, for they are a part of His very being. He could not be separated from His nature of tenderness and infinite love and mercy.
But righteousness and justice are just as much a part of His nature and of His inseparable attributes as are mercy and loving-kindness. The Lord Himself has impressed the truth of this upon every human soul. And the fact that at His coming we will have to meet His righteousness and justice, as well as His mercy and kindness, accounts for the dread that is in so many minds when the evidence is presented that shows the coming of the Lord to be near.
Then if we would enjoy the knowledge of the truth that this reign of sin is about to be destroyed at the soon coming of Christ, we must get a personal acquaintance with the Master Himself. We must come to Him in honesty of purpose, and allow Him to wash away every sin by His own blood, and thus prepare us for His coming. Then we can look forward to
(Continued on page 13.)
How Does It Affect You?
(Continued from page 9.)
10the day of His appearing with a joy that is simply beyond description.
To enjoy the hope of His coming, we must first enjoy the work of His forgiveness and cleansing from sin. If we have thus been brought into personal touch with Him, we will study every fresh evidence of His coming with a constantly increasing delight.
The man who is loaded with sin and crime, and who clings tenaciously to his wickedness, can have nothing else than a crushing load of dread at the thought of the appearing of the One whose whole being is filled with righteousness and truth. But oceans of delight flood the soul of him who has tasted of the forgiving and cleansing power of the Man of Nazareth, and who has learned from the lamp of prophecy to know of His coming.
Christian Science and the Atonement
By R.
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE denies the vicarious atonement of Christ. It denies that His sufferings and death were, in a substitutional sense, sacrificial. It admits that He is our example, a demonstration, a lesson, but not that we are to receive Him as our substitute.
With Christian Science, death is the mere belief of mortal mind. It belongs to the material, or natural. But Christ, according to Christian Science, was only spiritual; therefore, He did not really die. It was “what seemed to be death.”—“Science and Health, chapter Atonement and Eucharist.”
Tho the Scriptures speak of His death, it is to be spiritualized away by calling the whole event a demonstration. And so we have been deluded all the years by the words of Scripture when it bade us hope and trust so much in His sufferings and death; and Mrs. Eddy is the one who has undeceived us.
She tells us in the chapter on “Atonement and Eucharist,” that “the material blood of Jesus was no more efficacious to cleanse from sin when it was shed upon ‘the accursed tree,’ than when it was flowing in His veins.”
Why then did the Word assure us that “without shedding of blood there is no remission”? Heb. 9:22. And why did God set forth Christ “to be a propitiation through faith in His blood”? Rom. 3:25. And why does the Word say that we are justified by His blood and reconciled by His death? Rom. 5:9, 10. And what about the blood of Jesus Christ cleansing us from all sin? 1 John 1:7.
Why all this, if the shedding of that blood amounted to nothing, or the whole thing is an illusion of mortal mind? And what was the meaning of those countless sacrifices, with their shedding of the victims’ blood, from the time when Abel’s offering pleased God and Cain’s bloodless offering did not? What meant the sacrificial work until the day the veil of the temple was rent in twain with the expiring cry of the Christ, the Lamb of God? What meant the sanctuary and the temple worship, the priestly rounds of offerings, and the sprinkled blood before the consecrated veil? Ah, there is but one meaning. They all were types and shadows pointing to and foretelling the coming of the real sacrifice and the blood that avails.
And are all these passages of Scripture which speak of Christ’s sacrificial work, and which so sharply deny the teachings of Christian Science, to be explained away by calling them metaphors, figures of speech? And if so, why do Christian Scientists appeal to the Word when they think it agrees with their teachings? Is it consistent to cite that which is agreeable as if it were authority, and then explain away that which denies?
On the sixth page of the chapter “Atonement and Eucharist,” we find this statement: “One sacrifice, however great, is insufficient to pay the debt of sin.” So says Mrs. Eddy: it is offered on her own authority. But listen: “Now once at the end of the ages hath He been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” Heb. 9:26. Whether we believe it or not, and whether we accept Him or not, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ was to put away sin, and “by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.” Heb. 10:14. The one sacrifice, according to the Word of God, is to put away sin; and it will do this by removing sin from the saints as it perfects their characters; and it will remove the sin of the sinner by destroying both sin and sinner from the universe of God. “For, behold, the day cometh, it burneth as a furnace; and all the proud, and all that work wickedness, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith Jehovah of Hosts, that it shall leave neither root nor branch.” Mal. 4:1.
Mrs. Eddy says, “One sacrifice, however great, is insufficient to pay the debt of sin.” But the Word of God says He “offered ONE SACRIFICE for sins forever.” Heb. 10:12. Which do you believe?
Mrs. Eddy says that “one sacrifice, however great, is insufficient to PAY the DEBT of sin.” But the Word of God says we “were BOUGHT with a PRICE.” 1 Cor. 6:20. Thus we were bought with a price great enough to pay the debt; here is the price: “Ye were REDEEMED [bought back] . . . with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, even the blood of Christ.” 1 Peter 1:18, 19. Which word do you believe?
Mrs. Eddy says that “one sacrifice, however great, is insufficient to pay the debt of sin.” But the Word of God says that Christ has “been once offered to BEAR the SINS of many,” and “now once at the end of the ages hath He been manifested to PUT AWAY SIN by the sacrifice of Himself.” Heb. 9:28, 26. Which word do you believe, that of a woman, or that of God?
Mrs. Eddy says that “one sacrifice, however great, is insufficient to pay the debt of sin.” But the Word of God says, “For it was the good pleasure of the Father that in Him should all the fulness dwell; and through Him to RECONCILE ALL THINGS unto Himself, having MADE PEACE through the BLOOD of His cross; through HIM, I SAY, whether things upon the earth, or things in the heavens.” Col. 1:19, 20. This is plain enough; which word do you believe?
Mrs. Eddy says that “one sacrifice, however great, is insufficient to pay the debt of sin.” But in the statement, she is but fulfilling one of the prophecies of the Word of God, and thus verifying its truth. Here is the prediction: “Among you also there shall be false teachers, who shall privily bring in destructive heresies, DENYING even the MASTER that BOUGHT THEM” (2 Peter 2:1); denying the Master that bought them, by saying that His one sacrifice, however great, is insufficient to pay the debt of sin. But the denial of Christian Science does not mar the fact that Christ has bought us, has paid the debt of sin, and bore it away in His own body on the tree. If we will but count it a fact in our lives, we will find it blessedly true in our experience. One sacrifice paid the debt; we are bought with a price; He has reconciled us to God by His death.
R.
The Coming of Our Lord
1. How did our Saviour leave this earth?
“And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight.” Acts 1:9
2. What did the angels say to the disciples regarding His second coming?
“THIS SAME JESUS, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall SO COME IN LIKE MANNER as ye have seen HIM GO into heaven.” Acts 1:11.
NOTE.—The One who has promised to return is “this same Jesus” whom they knew and with whom they had been associating in person. He was a personal, literal Saviour when He was here at His first advent; and when the foregoing promise is fulfilled, He will return the same personal, literal Jesus that He was then. This is the plain, obvious teaching of the text.
3. What promise had He made to His disciples while He was yet with them in His earthly ministry?
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I WILL COME AGAIN, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:1-3.
4. How manifestly plain and visible will His coming be?
“For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.” Matt. 24:27.
5. How many upon earth will see Him when He comes?
“Behold, He cometh with clouds; and EVERY EYE SHALL SEE HIM, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him.” Rev. 1:7.
6. Who will accompany Him on His return?
“For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then He shall reward every man according to his works.” Matt. 16:27.
NOTE.—“Every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him” shall see Him, showing that the resurrection takes place at His second coming, and those who so cruelly put Him to death on the cross will be required to see the enormity of their awful deed. As the lightnings shine from east to west, illuminating with intense brightness the whole earth and sky, even so shall the coming of our Lord in all His glory, and with all the glory of His Father, and with all the glory of His holy angels, illumine this old earth with a glory that has never before appeared upon it.
7. What warning does the Master give concerning those who would teach that His coming is secret or private?
“Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, He is in the desert; go not forth: behold, He is in the secret chambers; believe it not.” Matt. 24:25, 26.
8. What further warning emphasizes the fact that we must not look for the second coming of Christ in some secret or local way?
“Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” Matt. 24:23, 24.
NOTE.—These warnings against false Christs and false prophets are also prophecies that such characters will arise, and will be more abundant and deceptive in the time just preceding the second coming of the true Christ. These deceptions are used by the enemy to lead astray God’s elect or chosen ones. Yet they will not succeed, for His faithful people are studying and heeding the warnings that He has given concerning the work of the arch-deceiver. “If any man willeth to do His will, he shall know of the teaching.” John 7:17.
9. What will be the manner of His coming?
“For the LORD HIMSELF shall descend from heaven WITH A SHOUT, with the VOICE OF THE ARCHANGEL, and with THE TRUMP OF GOD.” 1 Thess. 4:16.
NOTE.—“The Lord Himself” is the one that is coming. Language could not be made more emphatic. Not only is the Lord Himself coming, but all the holy angels are coming with Him. He is not coming in the Spirit, or by some representative; He is coming Himself. His coming is not in a secret or quiet way, but “with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God,” which shall resound throughout the earth. Surely the above scriptures and a multitude of others teach that His second coming will be personal, visible, literal.
Omens of His Coming
It is not any one sign which has taken place or is now before us which shows that the coming of the Lord is imminent. There are very few things which are occurring of which, considered singly, it can not be said, “This hath already been.” The great evidence is the culmination of line upon line of prophecy, and the concurrent testimony of many predicted signs which clearly point out these times in which we live as the last days. All these things are focused upon this generation.
There are in the body great nerve ganglia, centers of impulse and action in various parts, of great influence at various times; but all these smaller concentrations and subcenters receive power from, and respond to, the great center, the brain, the focal dynamo of all life-impulse and action. Even so it is in this cosmos of the ages. There have been great centers of disturbance and action all along the ages. Signs of the inward impulses have been manifest outwardly.
Sometimes it has seemed from the local single disturbance alone that creation would go to wreck and humanity would perish; but the rolling time swept the generations past that center, and fears were dissipated. But now all the impulses and signs of the ages are appearing, duplicating, reduplicating, with stronger power and greater scope, till the evidences of the end of the age and the second coming of Christ are hung out everywhere. The great nerves of the ages, the ganglia of time, are bringing the world in this constant impulse nearer to the great center, the coming of the Head of the Church, the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed is he that will hear and read.
In the great strike in Stockholm one admirable thing was done by both the government and the strikers, and that was, to prohibit the sale of liquor. Through the influence of the temperance society, the strikers themselves prohibited the consumption of liquors by their members. It is to be hoped that the government can be induced to continue prohibition that has worked so well in strikes. But we shall probably see San Francisco’s experience repeated,—after several weeks of admirable temperance regime, a falling back to the utter folly of liquor-selling and drunkenness.
Billboards in Law.
Justice Seabury of the New York Supreme Court, in a recent decision against unseemly and unsightly billboards, declared: “Such signs being outside the building line, it is doubtful if the municipal authorities could lawfully have authorized their erection. The streets or highways are public property. The streets, including the sidewalks, belong ‘from side to side and end to end’ to the public. Abutting owners have no right to appropriate this public property to private uses. The erection of billboards or signs upon or over public property is an appropriation of public property to private uses, and is no more sanctioned by the law than is the public appropriation of private property.”
He held, too, that “the presence of the billboards upon the public highway is a mere nuisance which the municipal authorities will do well to abate.”
The Thrips: A Troublesome Pest
THAT is what the pear thrip is, as many orchardists have found to their sorrow in prunes and pears and other fruits. The Bureau of Entomology of the Department of Agriculture, after two years’ work in the investigation and study of the thrip and its habits, has issued a bulletin, No. 80, entitled “The Pear Thrip and Its Control.” In this bulletin the methods which have been proved efficacious in eradicating the pest, are fully set forth, with instructions as to the time when the work should be done. The treatment applies equally well to the thrips infecting the prune and other deciduous fruit-trees.
The California State Board of Trade has been active in the matter from its inception, but they realize, as every one must who thinks, that the good work done by the Bureau of Entomology will be worthless unless the fruit-growers take hold of the matter energetically. Every now and then these pests appear in new places where they were not supposed to exist before. It is therefore highly important that orchardists in counties near to those where the thrips have been recognized should be watchful. And it is, too, important that the work of eradication be made as complete as possible in every section, as one infected orchard in a neighborhood will be a breeding-place for the pests and a center from which they will spread out in every direction.
The California State Board of Trade has secured an ample supply of the bulletins, and will send the same promptly to any grower who makes application therefor. The secretary of the State Board of Health is Mr. A. L. McDonald, and his address is Wells-Fargo, Nevada National Bank, San Francisco, California. We feel that this appeal from the State Board of Health is important. We hope the press generally will do all in their power to stir up action regarding the matter, and that the fruit-growers will take energetic action to rid the state of this destructive insect.
Bible or Bottle?
A little circular comes to us with a striking question illustrated, “Which Shall Rule, the Bible or the Bottle?” The thought is, What will become of our boys and girls? Will the saloon destroy them, or will the Bible build them? And we would say that first of all it depends not on the church or the nation, but on the home, on the fathers and on the mothers; and next the great responsibility rests upon the church. There is a holding, keeping power in the religion of Jesus Christ, and in the home that is ruled by Him. Prohibition is good, and there ought to be prohibition of the liquor traffic. It is a curse everywhere and to all; but prohibition will not prevent the use of intoxicants and narcotics. If rum were absolutely, prohibited to-morrow, there would be some substitute found for it which would in turn have to be prohibited. There is one thing, however, that will keep souls from its snare and destruction, and that is the Gospel of Christ. One of the sad things is that men are losing sight of the great remedy, and are endeavoring to supply it by the use of human agencies; and that will forever prove ineffective.
No Preacher Can Lead an Honest Life.—
By Editor
Such is the statement of the Rev. E. H. Carrick, who has just resigned from the North Lawrence Christian Church of Kansas. He has accepted a job with the Lawrence City Railway Company as a conductor. He declares that the criticisms, the meddling, the penurious way that he is treated by his congregation, make it impossible for a pastor to have any kind of freedom in his work. He feels now that he is earning an honest living and nobody can criticize him. From other incidents of which this is a sample, it seems that there are many who feel just as Mr. Carrick does. This in part is owing to the wrong system of supporting ministers. We do not believe that it was God's design that a minister should settle down over a church as his field and act as proxy for the church in godliness, missionary work, and Christian living. A minister ought to be absolutely independent of the church where he labors, so that he could speak God's message whether they would hear or whether they would forbear. The Bible system of the support of the ministry, the tithing system, properly administered, does not place a minister in dependence upon any one church. He is not dependent for his salary upon the congregation to which he preaches. He is not placed in fear of his family's coming to want, on the one hand, or of offending his congregation, on the other. He can preach God's message and be free, and certainly every minister ought to be free.
Moslems in Europe.—
The Mohammedans in Europe number thirteen millions, eight million, five hundred thousand of whom are in Russia—a vast number when considered by themselves, and yet they form only a small percentage of the Russian population, which now is estimated at one hundred and twenty million.
Dr. Eliot's New Religion.—
The religion of the future was just such a religion as might be expected from Dr. Eliot, a Unitarian. It is simply Unitarianism, with more or less color of imagination and speculation. One would hardly expect, however, to find Baptists endorsing it, and yet the New York Evening Journal of September 27 declares that Dr. Chas. F. Aked, John D. Rockefeller's Baptist pastor, approved for the most part Dr. Eliot's article on the religion of the future. He says, “I welcome this paper as a noble and most important contribution to the most essential things of human life.” He thinks there are tremendous gaps in that new religion yet to be filled, as for instance, the need of a personal Christ. But all this is met by the Bible.
Coming Down.
The newspapers report that a pastor of an Episcopal Church in Dayton, Ohio, permits smoking during afternoon service. If we rightly remember, the saloon business was tried by a minister in New York a few years ago; but somehow he could not make it a success. The saloon—which he called an inn—did not pay, nor was his church prospered. Ruin and religion would not mix, nor do piety and godliness thrive in tobacco smoke. And men will trust in tobacco smoking to draw a crowd instead of looking to God.
The Best Education.
The best of education, by which we mean training for effectiveness, is not always found in the schools, but in the study, the research, the trials, of after life. Some of the most noted scientists are not university graduates; Edison, for instance. Luther Burbank has been sneered at for the same reason. Yet, as The Town and Country Journal remarks, “Burbank is one of the men who make science for others less capable to follow.” Science—knowledge—ought to be measured by its product as well as by its theories.
A Bigger Army
The German minister of war issues a serious warning to his country, and demands a greater army. He declares that the geographical position of Germany, wedged in between great military countries, demands that she shall have the greatest army in the world; an army which he feels has been losing, to some extent, its standing, but which must be increased and made more effective. But his demand will call for greater and stronger armies on the part of France and Russia.
Corruption in Montreal
Corruption in Montreal.— We learn from the London Times that there have been recent revelations before the Royal Commission of great corruption in the civic administration of Montreal. Public opinion has been mightily stirred, so that an overwhelming majority of the people have voted for the establishment of a civic cabinet, to be known as Board of Control; and for a reduction of the number of aldermen.
The wealthiest County.
The Los Angeles Times tells us that according to assessment figures, the wealthiest county in the United States west of the Mississippi is the county of Los Angeles. Its assessed value is $585,401,164. Seven years ago its assessed valuation was $164,716,785.
A Plea for China’s Educated Women
By Mrs. E. A. Laird
THE women of “new China” are clamoring for learning; and increasing numbers of the younger generation of the upper and middle classes are acquiring a knowledge of the characters. Among the former class, those who have not yet become brave enough to go out to school, have private teachers in their homes.
Changsha has a normal school for women, which is run by private enterprise. The course proper consists of three years’ study of western (?) methods. One of the female teachers, who had been coming to the dispensary for treatment, invited me to visit this school; and in company with our evangelist’s wife, I was glad to do so. It is a boarding-school, and has enrolled about four hundred young women, both single and married. The faculty numbers about twenty-five teachers. The class rooms are well supplied with charts, maps, pictures, and other school equipment from Japan. Some Japanese women are on the teaching staff. During our visit, we had the privilege of listening to a most enthusiastic lecture given by a male teacher to the students in their auditorium. He dealt extensively with the relationship of Confucianism and Christianity. He insisted that these two systems with their teachings are practically alike, and whether one worshiped Confucius or Christ, there was no difference, except in name only. I do not know the speaker’s standard for Christianity, but it is easy to see that these people are unwittingly getting ready to join with the great federation movement when it comes near enough to their platform. Doubtless they will be received with open arms when the time arrives.
This school is strictly non-Christian, and here is an army of bright young women being trained as agnostics. When once they have imbibed this spirit, how much more difficult it will be for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to reach them. But not only so, for they will go out as teachers of others. This is one school, in one province only.
These people are intent on getting learning. If those who have the right method of education fail to step in and help them, they will gratify their desires by wrong methods, and thus be led farther and, farther away from God and the truth for these times.
Dear sisters, does it not make your heart go out in sympathy toward these women as you contemplate these facts? Here are splendid opportunities for our young people who have finished their college course and now hold their diplomas. Surely some could make their way into these schools and into the hearts of the students, and thus “gently by the cords of love” lead them to Christ.
Last year the writer was invited to teach art and music in this school. No doubt other lines would have been offered if I had been at liberty to go. Literature suitable to reach this class of people must be distributed among them. Our printing facilities must be increased so that present truth can be set before those in the heart of China, as well as the Chinese living in foreign lands; for example, America, Australia, Singapore, etc. Some of our good school-books might be translated and printed in cheaper style for use in the schools instead of the inferior kinds now used.
We must have schools of our own both for girls and for young men, where they can get proper training, and a knowledge of the things which pertain to their eternal welfare. One sometimes longs to be able to do the work of five or six persons, as one sees the great need in every direction. There is no danger of getting lonely or homesick where the work presses so greatly on every side. Will you not pray for these people, that many may be led into this great light, and rejoice with us in the blessed promises of God?
